(1) No suit or other legal proceeding shall be maintainable in any civil court against any registered Trade Union or any office-bearer or member thereof in respect of any act done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute to which a member of the Trade Union is a party on the ground only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment, or that it is in interference with the trade, business or employment of some other person or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital or of his labour as he wills.
(2) A registered Trade Union shall not be liable in any suit or other legal proceeding in any civil court in respect of any tortious act committed in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute by an agent of the Trade Union if it is proved that such person acted without the knowledge of, or contrary to express instructions given by, the executive of the Trade Union.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 18
Section 18 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 confers statutory immunity upon registered Trade Unions, their office-bearers, and members from civil suits in tort or contract for acts done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute that induce breach of employment contracts or interfere with trade or business.
If management files a civil suit seeking damages for loss of business or an injunction against a strike, union counsel must immediately file an application for rejection of the plaint under Order VII Rule 11 CPC read with Section 18. Conversely, employers seeking injunctive relief must frame the cause of action strictly around physical obstruction of ingress/egress, property sabotage, or violence, seeking limited injunctions (e.g., restraining demonstrations within 100 meters of factory gates) rather than restraining the strike itself.